2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Why Bernie will win the GE: Meet The Lifelong Republicans Who Love Bernie Sanders [View all]CoffeeCat
(24,411 posts)Last edited Fri Nov 27, 2015, 03:09 PM - Edit history (1)
During the summer, I thought it was incredibly curious that Bernie Sanders was campaigning in NW Iowa. If you're not from Iowa, let me introduce you to this parallel dimension. It's Steve King territory (the crazy congressman whose politics are somewhere to the right of Rush Limbaugh). It's crazy arch-conservative and very religious. My husband drove through there and said that most of the AM radio channels were "religious-talk" channels.
Bernie chose to campaign there and build a coalition, which was curious. However, even more interesting is that he was drawing some crowds. This was in July!
Here is a quote from a NW Iowa newspaper:
"During a three-day swing through Iowa's rural, western reaches, he turned out sizable crowds at every stop. Thursday night in Sioux City, he drew more than 400 people to Morningside College. Friday afternoon in tiny Storm Lake, he packed the Better Times Café. That evening, 2,500 showed up to hear him speak in Council Bluffs at the Mid-America Center, a convention center across the Missouri River from Omaha, Neb."
I think many Republicans like Bernie. I also think he is crazy-like-a-fox smart for galvanizing supporters in this crazy part of our state because of our Iowa caucuses. Looks like he's building a coalition of support across all of Iowa, not just in the Democratic strongholds. When the Iowa caucuses happen, he'll have supporters in those very-red caucuses supporting him (Dems and some Republicans). It's actually a brilliant strategy.